Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Birthday, My Prince!

FLASHBACK:

November 28, 2006 - 12:00
midnight

I can’t sleep. I’m lying in the darkened delivery room with
7 other expectant mothers, most of whom are asleep, as I wait for my first baby’s
arrival. I contemplate on the events
that have led to this day.

About 8 months before, on
April 1 to be exact, the best-ever ob-gyne Dra. Wilma Torres announced that I
was 6 weeks pregnant and that my baby was due on November 28, 2006.

The months that came after
were filled with anticipation and excitement as my belly grew into a size
disproportionate to my petite frame. I
would often get strange looks as I entered into the third trimester but that
meant nothing to me. I never went
through a single bout of morning sickness, my blood pressure was steady at
100/70 and I did not suffer from gestational diabetes. My tummy just got bigger and I reached 110
pounds but other than that, I felt normal.
At 7 months, we found out we were having a boy. It was a perfect pregnancy; a wonderful
journey I truly enjoyed.

As I entered my 36th
week, there was no sign of labor yet, so Doc Wilma ordered an NST (Non-Stress
Test) on November 27. So, my Mom and I,
with my 9-month old belly, took the 5-minute walk from my office to the hospital.

As I lay in bed with the NST
machine attached to me, Auntie Baby, the delivery room Head Nurse who happens my
mother’s sister asked me if I felt anything.
I honestly answered that I didn’t feel a thing. She calmly told me that I was having strong
contractions. After a conversation with
my doctor, I was ordered to stay in the hospital because the baby could come
anytime.

As I changed into the
hospital gown, I told myself, “This is it!”

November 28, 2006 – 3:00
a.m.

I’m still awake. I’m told to sleep but I can’t. There is still no pain but I can feel my
tummy contracting. I hear a couple of mothers crying in pain before being taken
into the delivery room where I hear, “1,2,3,4,5…push”. Minutes later, I hear a baby’s cry. I
refuse to sleep coz I want to monitor my own baby’s heartbeat on the fetal
monitor. The first time the heartbeat
disappeared, I panicked and called the nurse.
Apparently, the suction thingy has a tendency to get dislodged so I keep
re-attaching it throughout the night, just to be sure the baby’s ok. Auntie Baby is sleeping next to me. She decided not to go home, just in case…

November 28, 2006 – 7:00
a.m.

I haven’t slept a
wink. At this point, I’ve been awake for
24 hours and I’m beginning to feel the slightest of pain. It comes every 4 minutes…on the dot. I’m breathing in and out, just like what I
see in the movies. I’ve dilated up to 3
cm which isn’t enough for a normal delivery, so I get a shot in the arm to
speed the process up.

November 28, 2006 – 12:00
noon

I feel the need to go to
the bathroom and there I release the effects of the enema that had been administered
earlier in preparation for the delivery.
It's also when I realize that I’ve just had the bloody show. At this point, Doc Wilma checks on me from the
bathroom door and I tell her what just happened. She orders that I be prepped for the baby’s
arrival…

November 28, 2006 – 1:00
p.m.

I am in EXTREME PAIN. I pride myself in having a high threshold for
pain, but this is something beyond what I thought was possible. I’m lying with my legs propped on stainless
steel things and I’m writhing and whining coz I simply CANNOT stand the
pain. The machine monitoring my
contractions is always at 100%, repeatedly blinking as my contractions are
long, strong and oh-so-painful. The
student nurse assigned to me does not know what to do. I’m slapping my face, pulling my hair and
begging for an epidural. Unfortunately,
my anaesthesiologist is performing a procedure in another hospital across
town. Auntie Baby pulls out the head of
the anaesthesiology department, Dr. Lacuesta, from a procedure he is performing
on the third floor, just to give me my epidural. They ask me to curl but I keep springing back
up coz of my really huge tummy. It takes
2 male aides and a female nurse to hold me still as the epidural is
inserted. It’s only after a few minutes
that I feel relief…

November 28, 2006 – 7:00
p.m.

7 cm…I have not dilated any
further. Doc Wilma checks on me and punctures my very taut bag of water
for the baby to descend. I’m exhausted
but I still haven’t slept and it’s been 36 hours since I’ve had some shut-eye.

November 28, 2006 – 10:00 p.m.

Doc Wilma comes back to
check on me again. The baby has
descended but I remain at 7 cm. She
decides on a C-section and I readily agree.
She asks if I want a bikini cut and I nod. Of course I want a bikini cut for bikini-worthy
moments in the future (those moments have yet to be realized, by the way). As I am wheeled into the operating room on
the upper floor, I see Mama and my husband Greg and they tell me they’ll be
waiting for me and the baby. They’ve
been sleepless and haven’t left the hospital all this time.

I tell myself, “This is really, really it!”

The first 20 minutes
involve a series of procedures as the doctors and nurses talk about a whole lot
of things. Finally, at 10:20 p.m., they’re pulling my
baby out and I hear his first cry. They
present me my tiny, crying baby and for the first time I meet the little person
living inside of me for the past nine months.
Dr. Lacuesta tells me he’s going to put me to sleep and for the first
time in almost 40 hours, I fall asleep, peaceful, happy.

FAST FORWARD…

November 28, 2013 – 12:00 midnight

I’m now gazing at my seven
year-old son sleeping quietly between me and Greg and I can’t believe it’s been
7 years already. His face still bears
the features he’s had since he was an infant – the round innocent eyes which
are now starting to look at the world with more wisdom, the cute lips which can
now verbalize his thoughts, the lucky ears that don’t miss a thing. And, boy has he grown.

I can no longer carry the
boy I once cradled in my arms but I make sure I give him as many hugs and
kisses as I can, as I proudly lay claim to being the very first girl who has ever
kissed him and loved him.

As the memories of the past
7 years flash before me, I vividly remember everything about him: his first
word “Mama”, his first tooth at 6 months, his first step at 1 year and 1 month
and a whole lot of other “firsts” which I will never forget.

He has always made us proud
of his achievements: identifying letters
and numbers at 1 year and 8 months, reading his first words at 3 years old, receiving
the “Student of the Year” award during his pre-school graduation at CBB, being
a consistent honor student in Grade 1 and earning his green belt in martial
arts under Gan Soo Do.

I know that the coming years would
inevitably pass, up to the time when he’d be boarding the plane that’ll take
him to college (probably with me going on frequent unannounced visits to his
dorm), when he’d be going on his first date (with a curfew set at 10:00 p.m.),
when he’d be walking down the aisle to marry the girl I would have to
scrutinize before she earns the said privilege…ok, I refuse to go on beyond
this point…

In the meantime, I’d like
to keep him and his younger sister under my wing for as long as I can…to read
them bedtime stories every night, to take them fishing at Eden Nature Park, to
take them bowling at SM Lanang Premier, to take them to the beach and watch
them build sandcastles, to watch Disney Junior and Nickolodeon with them, to play
tent-tent and spaceship-spaceship with them, to sing at the top of our lungs
and dance like no one’s watching, to watch them eat and get all messy around
the mouth with spaghetti, ice cream and chocolates, to protect them from people
who hurt them, to pick them up when they fall down, to wipe their tears when
they feel sad, to hug them tightly every chance I get…

So, sweetie, don’t grow up too
fast coz it's one way of slowing down Mommy's own aging process, but no matter how old you and your sister get,
you’ll be my precious babies always, always and always…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUAN! I hope and pray that all your wishes and
dreams come true! I LOVE YOU SO, SO, SO
MUCH!!!

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About Me

I'm a happily-married mother of two adorable kids, a former pre-school teacher, a former banker, who has finally found my cozy little niche in the world, as I currently run a business I seem cut out for.

I like scribbling about just anything under the sun, so expect a hodgepodge of topics ranging from movies, food, music, fashion, beauty, everyday experiences and the list goes on...

I'm no movie critic nor am I much of a chef (I can tick off from just 1 hand the dishes I can actually cook, though I AM trying to learn). I love music from the second half of the 20th century but I don't sing well enough to qualify for The Voice (even at preliminary audition levels). I don't claim to be a fashionista or a beauty junkie, yet I always try to look presentable.

I have to say though that my everyday experiences worth sharing are more than enough to fill up a treasure chest of cherished memories.

From this crazy quilt of random thoughts, are points taken from where I'm at, so don't expect high-brow literary prose as I'm just not into that. I shall likewise bear no pretensions at being an expert at any of the topics that may catch my fancy.

So there...I hope you enjoy my simple take on life and every other little thing that goes with it.